Taking the cue from Emily P. Freeman and Anne Bogel, here are 8 things I learned in August plus a few highlights from this past week.
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1. I like IG better than FB
I like Facebook and all but if I’m hopping on an app, 9 times out of 10, it’s Instagram. It’s become such a great platform for connecting and sharing and and searching for information and community. I love it! But, oh my goodness, can we have chronological again?
2. SEO was cramping my creative brain
Okay, so in the internet world there’s this thing called SEO (aka search engine optimization). Basically it’s the way your work gets found online. Over the past several months, as I’ve been trying to think of posts that will do well in terms of SEO, I’ve been ignoring what I really want to explore and experiment with. So one day, while I was browsing a couple of my favorite blogs and reading posts, it dawned on me – I need to quit focusing on SEO and focus more on just writing. I’d been so focused on the ABC’s of blogging that I’d denied myself permission to just blog. It was an aha-slash-duh moment that was long overdue and it felt so incredibly freeing.
I still pay attention to SEO and post titles and subjects that might do better than others but when that switch flipped in my brain, I felt more creative than I have felt in quite a long time.
3. I’m addicted to dating my husband
When I say learned, I mean more like, I put the thought into these specific words and have held on to them. My husband and I often tell each other how much we like hanging out together, but lately I’ve been using the word ‘addicted’. I seriously crave his company. And not in a co-dependent, I-can’t-smile-without-you kind of way, but in a I-still-get-giddy-when-I-think-about-spending-time-with-you-after-all-work-is-done kind of way. Or can we leave that for later and just go get dinner out tonight and have a conversation? And I thought about how truly important it is to be intentional about carving out that time and making space to be friends and lovers and confidants. It doesn’t just happen, you have to work at it.
4. I’m just as insecure now as I was when I was a teenager
Sooooooooo, I’ll have this idea of something I want to write about or try on the channel and instantly there’s a party in my head. This major planning session breaks out in my brain about the ins and outs and details of how it would work, etc. Then I hop on IG and see someone else’s work, their beautiful words and pictures, and in the blink of an eye, my idea feels capital S stupid. This happened to me the other day and I just kept thinking, “I wanna be her, I so wanna be her, I wanna be her.” Actually I said it out loud to my husband during dinner at a Mexican restaurant.
This isn’t the first time I’ve thought this to be sure (first time I spoke the words aloud to the hubs on a date night!) and every single time I have to tell myself these things,
- Her story is not your story and you don’t know what her journey has been to get her there.
- God gave you your live to live, not someone else’s.
- And no you don’t wanna be her, you really just wanna be you doing the cool stuff she seems to be doing so you can post pretty pictures on IG. Who you foolin’?
It’s an uphill battle.
5. Organizing my Pinterest boards makes me feel accomplished
Since the creation of sections within a board, I have been sub-categorizing and re-organizing, and downsizing in my Pinterest collection. And yes, it makes me feel like I got stuff done in my life.
6. There’s apple picking in Texas
Okay so I’m kind of embarrassed to have only found this out about a state I’ve lived in for 11 years. No one told me and I never thought to ask. But I was doing some research and found out that there is an orchard within driving distance from us and I’m bound and determined to visit this fall!
7. I need to be more intentional about learning the art of hospitality & homemaking
I’ve wanted to learn the art of homemaking since before I got married but in the past year I haven’t been all that focused. In order to learn, I have to put in the time and effort. And book nerd that I am, I’m starting to make lists of cookbooks I want to add to my collection as well as books on homemaking and hospitality. A few titles waiting in my shopping cart are:
The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful//Myquillyn Smith
Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave//Joanna Gaines (Release Date 11/6/2018)
Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff//Myquillyn Smith (Release Date 10/23/2018)
Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering//Joanna Gaines
8. I need to read more blogs
I used to follow several blogs regularly but recently I discovered that I don’t read them as much as I used to. I think Facebook happened. Ugh. I need to get back in the blog-reading groove. Following a blog is a way more personal way to engage with content and the writer than clicking on the random posts on your feed. I need to make this happen this fall.
Week in Review
I’ve Been Reading
ADORNED – This book. I don’t know why it’s taken be so long to read a book by Nancy Leigh Demoss (now Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth) but I’m so glad I picked this one up. It is such a beautiful look at the relationship between older women and younger women in the light of Titus 2. I’m really enjoying it! I’m a little over halfway through it and I can’t wait to share my thoughts when I’m done!
AMERICA’S FIRST DAUGHTER – I’m borrowing the e-book from the library and reading it on my Kindle. It’s due soon so I have to put it on hold again and wait for my turn so I can finish it lol. So far, it’s really good! I love American history and this is really well-written.
I Thought This Was Funny
I love Evelyn’s channel. I first discovered her when she used to do VEDA years ago. She’s so funny and original and I love the way she constructs sentences. This video had had me cracking up the other night. And I also need to step up my skincare game!
I Bought This
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson & I’d Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel
Both of these books come out on September 4 and I can’t wait to get my copies in the mail!
I’m Looking Forward To
Planning and scheduling fall dates with the hubs. It’s going to be warm for awhile but I’ve got some ideas for some dates I can’t wait to go on with my favorite man :). I’ll be posting a list of those ideas on the blog soon so look out for that!
What has the summer taught you?